


Help you, hold you

by ItsMirkwoodGirl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Podfic Welcome, Sick Obi-Wan, Sickfic, obi-wan needs to learn to take care of himself, obianidala
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 04:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16803691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsMirkwoodGirl/pseuds/ItsMirkwoodGirl
Summary: Obi-Wan is tired, unwell and - thankfully - not alone.





	Help you, hold you

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and salutations!
> 
> This is a first in three ways: My first time posting something on this Website, my first Star Wars Fanfiction ever as well as my first English sickfic. I hope I don't mess it up and that someone will like this - if there's anything I am getting wrong, do correct me, otherwise I won't learn. Also, please excuse the fact that, occasionally, some sentences might sound weird - I am German, and it's hard to switch to a different language (though I am rather fluent in English, I'd say) or to find the right words to express what I want to express, sooo... yeah.  
> This story doesn't really take place at any particular point of the storyline you all know, just roughly somewhere during the Clone Wars... It's based of some things my brilliant best friend said in a conversation we had a few days ago... basically we talked about the way Obi-Wan seemed to be cheerful about his near-death experiences in "Jedi Apprentice" and that led to saying that he's probably veeeery bad at taking care of himself and even worse at admitting he's sick, which then led to my best friend telling me I should write a story about this. 
> 
> Loads of love, any kind of feedback is very welcome!  
> Lotta

**Help you, hold you**

Obi-Wan was tired. Tired of fighting, of the war, of losing friend after friend, tired of living in fear. He was tired of suppressing his feelings the way he had been taught all his life, of fighting against his attachments – to his former Padawan, to their friends in the clone army, to Satine…

He felt older and more exhausted than he should, his shoulders and upper back ached, the muscles sore after the mission. They often were this sore lately.

When he entered the quarters he shared with Anakin, he was surprised to find the latter sitting at the small table in their kitchen area. Anakin looked up, seeming little less surprised.

“Wow!”, he blurted out. “You look awful!”

“Thank you”, Obi-Wan replied dryly. “It’s always great to be greeted with such a lovely compliment.”

He walked over into the kitchen and took a mug from one of the cupboards – the largest one they owned – before putting the kettle on.

“Shouldn’t you be training with your Padawan right now?”, he asked, glancing at his chrono.

“I would be”, Anakin said slowly. “But Ahsoka fell down the stairs and hit her head. I sent her to the halls of healing.”

Obi-Wan produced a small sound that signalized something like _Ah, I see,_ whilst pouring the heated water into his mug and dumping a teabag into it.

“How is Senator Amidala?”, he asked. For a brief moment Anakin tensed, before he remembered that he had told Obi-Wan about his relationship with Padmé, and that Obi-Wan had promised him not to tell anyone.

“Padmé’s fine, I think”, he said. “Busy, of course. She’s visiting some kind of water planet at the moment, but she’ll be back any day.”

“I’m sure you’ll be… glad to see her again”, Obi-Wan stated. Anakin nodded.

“Yeah. I miss her.”

 _Of course he did,_ Obi-Wan thought, leaning against the sideboards and tapping onto the wooden surface with two fingers, waiting for his tea to be ready.

“Just promise me that, if you two should get any…ideas… don’t do it when I’m around.”

Anakin’s face reddened as he quickly shook his head.

“Uh… no, Master”, he said. Obi-Wan noticed that his ears were red, too. He grinned. He did enjoy teasing Anakin every now and then, and now that he knew about him and Padmé (well, officially), he had an excellent new thing to tease him with. In his mind, he added a gentle reminder of _protection,_ making sure that Anakin could hear the thought. Anakin’s face turned an even darker shade of red. Obi-Wan chuckled.

“Not funny, Master!”, Anakin groaned.

“To me it seemed to be”, Obi-Wan said with a shrug. “Alright, fine, I’ll stop.” He didn’t even have to add a _for now_ – it was clearly audible in his voice.

His Master hadn’t looked well this evening, Anakin thought when he was sitting on the bed in his chamber, legs crossed and having long given up to try and meditate the way he was supposed to – it didn’t do anything for him anyway, and he didn’t like it either, so why bother? So instead, he thought about Obi-Wan. He was worried for him – he hadn’t been able to force-sense whether he was hurting or something like that, since Obi-Wan had shielded himself heavily, but Anakin _did_ have eyes in his head, and he _did_ pay attention to people every now and then, and Obi Wan had looked pale and tired even before his latest mission, and more so now, after it. Anakin also hadn’t failed to notice that Obi-Wan had avoided responding to his remarks about him not looking well in the last few weeks. Anakin didn’t like that, but he knew that pressuring Obi-Wan into anything wouldn’t do any good.

He had talked about his worries with Padmé and Ahsoka though, and they had both assured him that they had noticed Obi-Wan’s exhausted state as well, so at least Anakin hadn’t just imagine it…

“Uargh, this isn’t gonna help with anything”, he groaned quietly, falling back onto the bed. “I’ll just have to take care he doesn’t collapse at some point…”

He tried to sleep a little, but just when he had dozen off, he felt a warm presence, just at the edge of his conscience. _Padmé._

He got up, put on his boots and threw on a robe before leaving the shared quarters. Obi-Wan was nowhere to be seen, so he probably was in his own room and – hopefully – asleep. Force knew he needed it.

Anakin hurried down the corridor, then all the way to the hangar. When he was almost there, Padmé came around a corner in front of him. Her face lit up with a bright smile when she recognized Anakin.

“Ani!”, she called. Anakin couldn’t help but smile as well, wrapping his arms around his wife and pulling her into a hug as soon as he was close enough to her to do so.

“I missed you”, he told her. Padmé laughed. “I wasn’t gone for that long.”

“Still.”

Anakin looked into the direction of the hangar. “Do you need to report to anyone tonight?”

“No.” Padmé took his hand. “I only visited a few villages. I spoke to people. It was no political mission or anything like that.”

“Obi-Wan says that everything a politician does is political.”

Padmé rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t have to be anywhere tonight, to answer your question. Just in bed, nowhere else.”

Anakin chuckled. They started walking to the quarters, talking with hushed voices. Padmé told him about the people she had met on that water planet, and Anakin listened carefully, even though he wasn’t exactly interested in the farming method those people used to grow enormous fruit trees under water…

“Did you talk to Obi-Wan about…” Padmé asked, finally, not even finishing her question. Anakin should his head, running the hand that was not entwined with Padmé’s through his hair. “It didn’t feel like… it didn’t feel right”, he said. “Not just yet at least.”

Padmé hummed in response. They had had this conversation – more or less the same way – several times before. Nine times since Anakin had told his wife that he had fallen in love again, to be exact.

When they had almost reached the quarters, Padmé noticed that Anakin seemed concerned, his brows were furrowed and his eyes darker than usual.

“What’s wrong?”, she asked.

“I was thinking about Obi-Wan”, Anakin responded. “He really didn’t look good today.”

“Worse than the last couple of weeks?”, Padmé asked.

“Definitely worse.” Anakin snorted. “If he keeps going on like that, denying that he needs rest, he’ll kill himself.”

“We’ll not let him”, Padmé said gently, but firmly. Anakin smiled at her, feeling warm on the inside from the love and thankfulness for his wife. 

He opened the door, holding it for Padmé before entering himself.

“Do you want anything?”, he asked. “Something to eat, or…” He cut himself off when he felt a wave of discomfort over the old bond between himself and Obi-Wan.

“Something’s wrong”, he said, rushing over into Obi-Wan’s chamber. It was dark, but in the light that fell through the door he could see that the door to the fresher that was connected to the bedroom was halfway open.

“Obi-Wan?”, he called out, stepping closer and opening the door. He couldn’t see anything, but now he heard shaky, uneasy breathing.

“Obi-Wan?”, he asked softly. “I’ll turn on the light, alright?”

He did, and his gaze met Obi-Wan’s, who was sitting next to the toilet with his knees pulled to his chest, shaking. There were wet splatters on his sleeping tunic.

Anakin knelt down and placed one hand on Obi-Wan’s arm. “Oh, Obi-Wan…”

“Ani?”, Padmé’s voice came from the hallway. She sounded worried. “Are you alright?”

“Me, yes”, Anakin answered, not taking his eyes of Obi-Wan.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”, he asked him softly. “I noticed you weren’t well for weeks, you should have told me before it got that bad, y’know.”

Obi-Wan closed his eyes. “Didn’t… want to… you had other things to worry about. I’ll be fine.”  
He didn’t sound _fine_. He didn’t look _fine_ either, paler than before, eyes slightly shiny, sweat making his cinnamon-coloured hair stick to his face. The wet splatters on his tunic seemed to be the remains of Obi-Wan’s stomach contents, since the room smelled sourly and Obi-Wan did sit right next to the toilet. Anakin groaned. “You’re really bad at taking care of yourself, Obi-Wan.”

He started gently running his hand up and down his mentor’s arm. “Think you’re done in here?”

“Nothing left”, Obi-Wan answered hoarsely. Anakin nodded.

“Alright. C’mon, you can’t stay in here.” He wrapped one arm around his former master and pulled him to his feet, steadying him as they walked from the fresher to the bedroom. He helped him sit down on the edge of the bed and handed him a clean sleeping tunic from the small closet. He didn’t dare to try and help him with changing; he knew that Obi-Wan would not appreciate that in any way. He could imagine what his former master would say if he tried to help: _Anakin, I am a grown man, I can do this by myself…_

“Hey”, Padmé’s gentle voice came from the door. Anakin looked up to see her holding a small, steaming cup. She had drawn the right conclusions from the situation, as per usual.

“I made tea”, she said, explainingly. “I figured it might help…”

“Thank you”, Obi-Wan rasped out. “Very kind of you, Senator…”

“It’s Padmé”, she reminded him, stepping closer and handing the cup to Obi-Wan. “And you’re most welcome.”

She left only a few minutes after, politely excusing herself and leaving her husband and his former Master alone. Anakin placed one arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulder and Obi-Wan leaned against him without hesitation.

“You’re a mess, Master”, Anakin stated, running one hand up and down Obi-Wan’s back. “You need to let us help you.”

“Anakin…” Obi-Wan sounded annoyed, despite his voice being hoarse and barely audible. “I’ll be fine. Stop worrying.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “Do you call vomiting in the middle of the night _fine_?”

“I’ll be fine tomorrow”, Obi-Wan corrected himself, placing his cup on the nightstand. “Go back to your wife.”

Anakin groaned. “Are you sure?”

Obi-Wan nodded.

“I appreciate your concern though”, he told him and crawled under his blanket. Anakin knew that this meant _end of conversation_. He sighed, then got up from the bed and left. Padmé was waiting for him in the kitchen.

“We were right then”, she said.

“Yes”, Anakin said. “Uargh, I hate it when he does that.”

“You mean denying he is unwell?”

“Exactly.” Anakin sighed. “He keeps doing that and every kriffin’ time he gets sick he thinks he can hide it from me!” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I bet you could imagine a ton of other things you could do now instead of….”

“No, no, it’s fine”, Padmé assured him. “You know that I care about Obi-Wan just as much as you do. Besides, he needs help right now, doesn’t he? We’ll team up. Take care of him together.”

“I can do this…”

Padmé laughed. “Yeah, sure. Great idea. Leaving two people who are very bad at taking care of themselves alone and hoping for the best? Not happening.”

Anakin felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Thank you, Padmé”, he said. Padmé took his hand once again. “Of course, anytime.” She pressed a short kiss on Anakin’s cheek. “I just hope Obi-Wan won’t mind…”

“I think he’s too sick and tired to actually mind at the moment. Besides, he doesn’t have a choice.”

Anakin and Padmé settled down in Anakin’s leaving the door open just in case. Later that night, Anakin woke up from his rather light sleep, distinctively feeling that something wasn’t right. He sat up, which woke Padmé.

“Obi-Wan?”, she asked. Anakin nodded and slipped out of bed. Padmé followed him.

Obi-Wan wasn’t awake, but he was twisting and turning around in his bed, probably experiencing a nightmare or a bad memory…

Anakin rushed over to the bed, placing a hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder and shaking him awake. Almost immediately, Obi-Wan opened his eyes, though he didn’t seem to be completely aware of his surroundings.

“It’s alright”, Anakin said softly. “You were dreaming.”  
Obi-Wan frowned, then nodded and sat up. He looked from Anakin to Padmé. “Sorry I woke you two”, he whispered.,

“Banthashit”, Anakin responded. “It wasn’t you anyway; you didn’t even make a sound.”

Padmé came closer, sitting down on the bed and gently brushing a hand against Obi-Wan’s forehead.

“You’re burning up”, she said, then turned her head and looked at Anakin. “Do you have any medicine?”

Anakin shook his head. “Don’t think so. A few bacta patches, but those won’t do anything…”

“Alright. Old-fashioned way then.” Padmé got up. “I’ll be right back.”

Anakin seated himself next to Obi-Wan, wrapped one arm around him and pulled him a little closer. With one hand, he rubbed his back in small, slow circles the way Obi-Wan did when Anakin woke up from his own nightmares.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Obi-Wan shook his head. Anakin hoped that the dream had been the fuzzy, strange kind that usually came with fevers, not the horribly clear kind that included visions of a possible future. Obi-Wan really didn’t need those at the moment; he probably was bad enough without them.

“Are you going to let us take care of you now?”, he asked pleadingly. Obi-Wan didn’t answer, but he leaned against Anakin and took a long breath. Anakin felt that he had given up on denying. Good.

Padmé returned, holding a bowl and a bit of cloth. She sat down on Obi-Wan’s other side.  
“May I?”, she asked. Obi-Wan nodded, and Padmé started wiping his fever-flushed face with the wet cloth. Anakin remained where he was, one arm around Obi-Wan, and tried to use the force to help his former master’s fever. He wasn’t very good at force-healing, but he could at least try…

After a while, Padmé placed the bowl on the floor.

“I hope it helps”, she said, running one hand through Obi-Wan’s hair. Anakin noticed that he slightly leaned into the touch.

“If he doesn’t get better we’ll call for a medical droid tomorrow”, Anakin said. Padmé nodded.

“Do you need anything?”, she asked Obi-Wan. He shook his head.

“Then you should try to sleep”, Anakin said. Obi-Wan nodded and lay down again. Anakin crawled under the blanket with him. Obi-Wan turned his head and shot him a questioning glance, but Anakin shrugged.

“You’re stuck with us until you’re better, Master.”

Obi-Wan sighed and closed his eyes. Padmé looked at Anakin, one eyebrow pulled upwards in a questioning manner. Anakin nodded, signalizing: _It’s alright, c’mon._

Padmé got under the covers on Obi-Wan’s other side and turned onto the side of her body, facing the two Jedi.

“Good night”, she said softly, brushing strands of hair out if Obi-Wan’s face and then taking Anakin’s hand. Anakin rested his head on Obi-Wan’s shoulder, ran his thumb over Padmé’s hand and whispered: “Good night.”

Obi-Wan let out a long breath again. “Good night”, he rasped out. And then, hesitantly: “I love you.”

Anakin’s eyes widened and he looked at Padmé, seeing her smile warmly. He couldn’t believe it.

“I love you, too”, he said, pressing a quick kiss against Obi-Wan’s cheek. Obi-Wan didn’t fight him, he only let out a humming sound and nuzzled a little deeper into the pillows.

Anakin felt happier than he had in a while. He remembered the first conversation he had had with Padmé about this, and his joy when she had told him that she was interested in Obi-Wan as well. He remembered their decision to ask Obi-Wan to join their relationship, and the eight times Anakin had answered to Padmé’s “Have you asked him yet”-s with “No”. As soon as Obi-Wan was well again, he would ask him, he swore to himself. Now, he was sure of what Obi-Wan would answer – after a little bit of denial and struggling probably, but Anakin was sure that he knew his final answer. He sighed and closed his eyes. He was here, with the two people he loved most, and even though one of them was sweaty and feverish, Anakin couldn’t imagine any situation he’d rather be in right now.

 _You’ll have to get used to this, Obi-Wan_ , he thought. _No matter what you’ll need, we’ll be there for you. We’ll help you, we’ll hold you._


End file.
